Like most people, I have a morning routine. If any of this routine is interrupted, my day is ruined. Here’s the routine: I get up when I get up. I do not use an alarm. If I go to bed early, I get up early. If I go to bed late, I get up a little later. This is very simple. If I’m driving to the Midwest and have to leave at 3 a.m., I use an alarm. Otherwise, I get up when I get up.
The next thing I do in the morning is go downstairs and start the coffee. When I make the coffee, I hate when I find the grinds from the day before in the metal filter . This is very disturbing to me and makes me angry, but my anger lasts only a moment. After I dump the grinds in the garbage and rinse out the filter, I am back on track. I can put the new coffee grinds in the filter, fill up the water to the 9-cup line for the three of us drinking coffee, turn on the coffee pot and away we go. By the way, I have never had a coffee pot with a timer that I can set to start up at a certain time so the coffee is ready when I get up. That would mess up my routine.
Next I go outside and get the newspapers. If I go outside and the newspapers have not been delivered, I say out loud, “No news is not good news.” If I had to walk through a spider web as I stepped outside in the morning, I sing to myself, “The Itsy Bitsy Spider is probably in my hair.” Walking through spider webs used to bother me because I was afraid of spiders, but I am not afraid of spiders any more. You cannot be afraid of spiders when you are the only male in the house with four other females.
After I bring in the newspapers, I come back in and go get my coffee. If the coffee is not finished brewing, I pour a cup anyway. I need my coffee! I add two teaspoons of sugar and a tablespoon of Coffee Mate powdered creamer to each cup. I think I may like the sugar and cream more than the coffee. Then I go sit in “my chair” next to the lamp and read the papers. I subscribe to two newspapers: The Bergen (County) Record and the Wall Street Journal. One is politically left-leaning and one is politically right leaning. I read the Sports in the left-leaning one first and then read the national and local news, scan the obituaries, and then read as much as I can of the right leaning one. When I finish that, I am usually down to the wire on time. Then I read a chapter from the Bible. I wish I were more spiritual and read the Bible first, but I don’t. But at least I do read it.
I don’t really like to talk to people much before all of this has happened. I think I am actually morning person, but not a talkative morning person. I am a thinking morning person. I need about an hour and fifteen minutes to get ready for a day. If I oversleep by an hour, I need about about an hour and fifteen minutes to get ready for a day. This is how I roll.
As for the coffee, I like strong coffee. My favorite coffee is any strong coffee that is on sale. If I have paid full price for coffee at the grocery store, it doesn’t taste as good. If I have gotten the coffee on sale and I had a coupon, it tastes even better than if it is just on sale.
I have been doing some variation of this morning routine since I was in the 5th grade. My Mom did not give me coffee in my bottle, but I know a woman who did give her daughter coffee in a bottle and she turned out alright. And I think I turned out alright too.
After I bring in the newspapers, I come back in and go get my coffee. If the coffee is not finished brewing, I pour a cup anyway. I need my coffee! I add two teaspoons of sugar and a tablespoon of Coffee Mate powdered creamer to each cup. I think I may like the sugar and cream more than the coffee. Then I go sit in “my chair” next to the lamp and read the papers. I subscribe to two newspapers: The Bergen (County) Record and the Wall Street Journal. One is politically left-leaning and one is politically right leaning. I read the Sports in the left-leaning one first and then read the national and local news, scan the obituaries, and then read as much as I can of the right leaning one. When I finish that, I am usually down to the wire on time. Then I read a chapter from the Bible. I wish I were more spiritual and read the Bible first, but I don’t. But at least I do read it.
I don’t really like to talk to people much before all of this has happened. I think I am actually morning person, but not a talkative morning person. I am a thinking morning person. I need about an hour and fifteen minutes to get ready for a day. If I oversleep by an hour, I need about about an hour and fifteen minutes to get ready for a day. This is how I roll.
As for the coffee, I like strong coffee. My favorite coffee is any strong coffee that is on sale. If I have paid full price for coffee at the grocery store, it doesn’t taste as good. If I have gotten the coffee on sale and I had a coupon, it tastes even better than if it is just on sale.
I have been doing some variation of this morning routine since I was in the 5th grade. My Mom did not give me coffee in my bottle, but I know a woman who did give her daughter coffee in a bottle and she turned out alright. And I think I turned out alright too.